Editing Leon Theremin (section)

==Early life==
Leon Theremin was born in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]] in 1896. His father was Sergei Emilievich Theremin, of French [[Huguenot]] descent. His mother was Yevgenia Antonova Orzhinskaya<ref>{{cite book | author=Albert Glinsky | year=2000 | title=Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage | publisher=University of Illinois Press | url=https://archive.org/details/thereminethermus00glin | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/thereminethermus00glin/page/10 10] | quote=theremin family huguenot. | access-date=2013-12-28| isbn=9780252025822 }}</ref> and of German ancestry.<ref name="galeyev LMJ6"/> He had a sister named Helena.<ref name="ima19"/>

In the seventh grade of his high school, in front of an audience of students and parents, he demonstrated various optical effects using electricity.<ref name="ima55">{{cite web |author=L. S. Termen |year=1970 |title=Erstes Treffen mit A. F. Joffe |url=http://www.ima.or.at/theremin/?page_id=55&cat=1 |work=Erinnerungen an A.&nbsp;F.&nbsp;Joffe |language=de |access-date=2009-04-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511013531/http://www.ima.or.at/theremin/?page_id=55&cat=1 |archive-date=2009-05-11 }}</ref>

By the age of 17 he was in his last year of high school, had his own laboratory at home for experimenting with high-frequency circuits, optics and magnetic fields. His cousin, Kirill Fedorovich Nesturkh, then a young physicist, invited him to attend the defense of the dissertation of [[Abram Ioffe|Abram Fedorovich Ioffe]]. Physics lecturer Vladimir Konstantinovich Lebedinskiy had explained to Theremin the dispute over Ioffe's work on the [[electron]]. On 9 May 1913 Theremin and his cousin attended Ioffe's dissertation defense. Ioffe's subject was on the elementary photoelectric effect, the magnetic field of cathode rays and related investigations. In 1917 Theremin wrote that Ioffe talked of electrons, the photoelectric effect and magnetic fields as parts of an objective reality that surrounds us every day, unlike others that talked more of somewhat abstract formulae and symbols. Theremin wrote that he found this explanation revelatory and that it fit a scientific – not abstract – view of the world, different [[Order of magnitude|scales of magnitude]], and matter.<ref name="ima19">{{cite web |title=Termens Kindheit |url=http://www.ima.or.at/theremin/?page_id=19&cat=1 |work=Erinnerungen an A.&nbsp;F.&nbsp;Joffe |language=de |access-date=2009-04-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511013506/http://www.ima.or.at/theremin/?page_id=19&cat=1 |archive-date=2009-05-11 }}</ref> From then on Theremin endeavoured to study the [[Macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm]], in the same way he had studied the macrocosm with his hand-built telescope.<ref name="ima55"/> Later, Kyrill introduced Theremin to Ioffe as a young experimenter and physicist, and future student of the university.

Theremin recalled that while still in his last year of school, he had built a million-volt [[Tesla coil]] and noticed a strong glow associated with his attempts to ionize the air. He then wished to further investigate the effects using university resources. A chance meeting with Abram Fedorovich Ioffe led to a recommendation to see Karl Karlovich Baumgart, who was in charge of the physics laboratory equipment. Karl then reserved a room and equipment for Theremin's experiments. Abram Fedorovich suggested Theremin also look at methods of creating gas fluorescence under different conditions and of examining the resulting [[Fluorescence spectroscopy|light's spectrum]]. However, during these investigations Theremin was called up for [[World War I]] military service.<ref name="ima54">{{cite web |author=L. S. Termen |year=1970 |title=Erste Experimente am Physikalischen Institut bei Joffe |url=http://www.ima.or.at/theremin/?page_id=54&cat=1 |work=Erinnerungen an A.&nbsp;F.&nbsp;Joffe |language=de |access-date=2009-03-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511013526/http://www.ima.or.at/theremin/?page_id=54&cat=1 |archive-date=2009-05-11 }}</ref>